Aging Air Force

[George Wallace]

well, from what I've researched, being NCM the salary is lower regardless the trade, especially for the first 3 to 4 years. And the promotion opportunity is not always guaranteed. (7 yrs to become a Mcpl, if lucky!) I am not surprised people just use the maintenance trade as stepping stone for better pay civic job.

I don't know how much or how accurately you did your research, but I would say that you have come to the wrong conclusions.  What pay does a person joining as an NCM under one of the plans to train Tradesmen make, compared to an OCdt?  I would say that a good guess would be close to twice as much.  Both are getting Rations and Quarters.  The NCM, however, is getting a Trade that will also give him Spec Pay.  Have you done any research into what Spec Pay is?  I didn't think so.  There are Cpls making Spec Pay, who are making more money than MCpl and Sgts in other Trades.  Many Air Force Trades are receiving Spec Pay.

So you figure it takes 7 years to become a MCpl?  How long do you figure it takes an OCdt making $13,000, Plus or minus, a year to become a Capt? 

Perhaps, it would be best to leave the speculation on who makes what for Pay to the Financial people or at least someone who can explain the Pay Tables a little more accurately than you.

 

[aesop081]

:

Maybe you should analyse things just a little bit more. No, really, i mean it.

well, from what I've researched, being NCM the salary is lower regardless the trade, especially for the first 3 to 4 years.

Different level of responsabilities have different levels of pay. And, at any rate, as an NCM, i currently make more than alot of the officers that i work for.

And the promotion opportunity is not always guaranteed.

And what exactly makes you think that promotions are guaranteed in the Officer world ? I'm sorry but i know just as many "career captains" as i do "career corporals" Anything beyond corporal (NCM side) and Captain (officer side) is based on performance, potential and merit. There's no f*****g guarantees either way.

I am not surprised people just use the maintenance trade as stepping stone for better pay civic job.

Again, you dont know what you are talking about. How many civvy aircraft technicians do you know travel with the airplanes everywhere around the world ? How many of them have the advantages and bennefits that military technicians do ? Next time that there is a down-turn in the aviation industry, you will be singing a very different tune.

 

[ashleyw]

As a DEO officer cadet still makes like almost $45k to 50k a year, as a private only makes $30k below. That's the different.
or ceopt, rmc or rotp, these officer cadet don't make much but their living, education, books are paid for.

 

[George Wallace]

As a DEO officer cadet still makes like almost $45k to 50k a year, as a private only makes $30k below. That's the different.
or ceopt, rmc or rotp, these officer cadet don't make much but their living, education, books are paid for.

Your point?

Are we comparing apples to apples or Horses to Turtles?

A DEO officer has either a Degree or in the last year of his Degree program.  So you are comparing him to a private who has just joined off the street with no training.  You are comparing a "Semi-Skilled" officer candidate with an "Unskilled NCM". 

Perhaps you would like to compare a "Semi-Skilled" DEO officer with a Degree coming in as a 2Lt Infantry officer to a "Semi-Skilled" NCM Tradesman/Journeyman with a College Deploma, Spec Pay, a Signing Bonus and a entry rank of Cpl?

Please get your ducks all in a row first, before posting things that are not necessarily true.

 

[dimsum]

As a DEO officer cadet still makes like almost $45k to 50k a year, as a private only makes $30k below. That's the different.
or ceopt, rmc or rotp, these officer cadet don't make much but their living, education, books are paid for.

I wish I made $45k when I was an OCdt!  I'm a DEO LT right now, and still haven't broken $50k.  The first time I made close to $45k was when I finally got my Subbies (LT in the Navy) a few years ago.  When I was on the ships (Reserve, mind you, but the pay's the same for us), I was the Div O of a department where every LS and above made more than me.  The only person who made less than me was an AB...and even then, not by much.

Just my $0.02.

 

[aesop081]

I end up with about $68k or so as a MCpl. Plus all the TD on top of that.

 

[childs56]

I was in the Airforce, I was one of those new age techs that some of the expieranced guys say are the problem.

The way I seen it for the most part the guys with 20 years in and had all the knowledge in the world about the airframe were the problem. Most of them sat in a office checking their emails and complaining about the newer generation and how stupid we were. Yes I heard them even though they thought different.

For the most part the recruiting system has failed the system in who they hire when they hire and how they hire. Right now no matter what industry you go into it is the same. From Mcdonalds up to the computer net workers.
Society has fallen to the wayside in deep reguards to work ethic. Most want a cushy most money for the least amount of work. We all do, the difference is some are willing to work to get there. I am not talking about going to University and doing more schooling. I am talking about getting your hands dirty, sweating your butt off, freezing your butt off then getting even dirtier.
We seem to have forgotton what work is. This has come back to kick us in the butt and will continue to untill society realizes that more and better education is not readily availible in a classroom. But in the field that we conduct operations in.
For the Airforce that field is the hangers the Aircraft get maintained in, the DLZ's where they get loaded with ordanance. Then the classroom to learn the specific aspects of maintanance.

Higher education does not mean higher amount of schooling. It means a higher amount of knowledge about the subject at hand. To bad to say the subject at hand is how to fix a machine and keep it flying. A limited amount of trainnig can be had in a classroom for the most part. But the actual understanding and the actual placement of tools and parts can only be done on the Aircraft itself. No matter how you look at it.

As for the pay from the Military it is pretty good. Every two weeks you have a check, and you can rely on that till you retire.
Where I work now I make good money but only when I work. lately that has been rarly.

I worked with a few expieranced guys who I would never hesitate to work with